Adele, Case, and our neighbor boy Anthony

Adele found the entertainment center at our motel in Fargo.

Adele-in-the-box

All the cousins together! Jemma, Wendy- Sue, Adele, and Sophia

The days before school....both Adele and Janessa are asleep, Amadon is at work and I have a little free time this am so I'm going to try and post some pics. Let's see how this goes...

Welcome to your new home!

Well, Amadon and I spent last night decorating our kitchen with balloons and streamers and more streamers since Adele thought it was quite fun to tear them down. I made a big cake and we got a sappy card and a present that we put in a purse shaped bag. We got her Sim's 2 with the nightlife expansion. I will be picking Janessa up at 11 to move all her stuff here and I'm hoping she will really like her surprise.

So, everyone welcome Janessa!

It's official!

Janessa will be living with us, starting tomorrow morning. Today I have to go to a meeting to sign different papers and such. I'm actually a bit nervous. I'm going to maker a big cake and host a welcome to the family party, probably next weekend. My family is really excited to meet her and so is Samantha. We will be going to Katelyn's Birthday Party on Sunday. She will be the big 1. :)

I'm getting my hair cut and colored on Saturday. It's been a while since I've gotten around to doing it and I can't wait. However, I have a new stylist so I'm hoping it goes well.

Other than that I haven't been up to a whole lot. A girl from my meet up group had a baby and we are going to do girls' nights out. Comedy night, a passion party, and possible bowling with a few drinks will be on the schedule. We also have to think of a good boys night out as well. Well, not tooo good.

I miss you dad

I am having a hell of a time with the estate. My dad had a lot of investments and he sold a lot of stock but the problem is everything was sold after his date of death. They did a trace on the paperwork which was also sent after the date of death, however it did have his signature. They have never encountered a problem like this before and trying to sift through the legalities have been tough to say the least. We're pretty much going back to square one. I just miss him so much. I wish I didn't have to do any of this. I wish he was here. I would give anything to see him again. I hate dealing with the estate, and creditors, and it seems no matter how much of it I get done or sift through there comes along some problem that makes is so you have to redo everything all over again. And frankly, it is not fun to deal with your parent's finances. And I know a little about investing and retirement accounts but only basic, standard knowledge and my dad was great at it and did everything himself. There was no broker, so it makes it even harder to try and track everything down and get it taken care of. And there's something so hard about just dealing with his estate itself. It makes me miss him so much and it really hits home that he's gone.

update

We have had a few visits with Janessa and are doing an overnight this weekend. I'm really excited. She really likes us and wants to be a part of our family. Everything has been going really well. Our certificate just came in the mail. Everything is official so that was a nice feelings. 4 months of hard work! We had to announce to everyone that she will be the new addition to our family. That has been a little difficult. Not everyone agrees with us doing foster parenting but I guess you need to just do what's right for you.

My friend Shawn, is in town from NY and we are going to schedule a lunch date. It will be fun to see each other again. It's been a few years and we both have families now.

little update

I love Sofa Mart from furniture row. It has quality sofas and they are affordable. Some of them were 1/2 the price I found at Conlins and Slumberland. We ended up getting a big sectional that is leather with microfiber cushions. We also got an ottomon to match and a big cushy chair that is also a glider rocker for the new baby. We figured it was time to actually invest in some nice furniture. We got the 5 year fabric plan that covers any stains, and if they can't get it out they will send us a new couch. I also got free cleaner for life. We figured with a bunch of little ones, there will be stains.

I finished my first night of recertification for CPR last night. 3 more hours tonight and then that is over with. Tomorrow is the dinner date.

My group is meeting today at 3 and we have another new member that just joined so it will be fun to meet her. I had a really good talk with a professor from England. He's working at UND right now. And the other lady's hubby is running Furniture Row so they came all the way from CO. It's fun to meet all these new people. I don't think I would have crossed paths with everyone on my own.

car accident

I got hit by a construction vehicle yesterday, in a construction zone. He was paying attention to something else and didn't see me. He was able to lower the scoop a bit before he crashed into me though, so my windows didn't break. The air bags also didn't go off which I was thankful for because if that happened the vehicle would be totaled. But there is a nice amount of damage. The car door needs to be replaced and the interior metal work also needs to get fixed. Luckily, it's cosmetic. It's sliced right through.

Munchkin Mischief

Did I mention Case unplugged our freezer for no reason and ruined about $300 worth of groceries? And that Adele learned how to turn on the faucet and flooded our upstairs. Good times.

Can't wait to meet her!

We get to meet our possible placement Thursday night.We met with our social worker and got to know all her info. She seems like she would really fit in with our family. She will be finishing high school and wants to go to college. She's really dedicated to school and has a lot of similar interests that we do. We know where she works at and were going to swing buy to try and get a peek of who she is.

We have a lot to do this weekend. We're buying a new couch. A really big, cushy sectional. I like our couch now, it looks pretty but isn't very comfy. And we need more seating area. We're also getting a gun cabinet that Amadon is excited about. A new mattress for the bed frame downstairs and then we should be pretty set to go. Oh, and groceries. And a bread machine.

Amadon brought me out to Paradiso last night. That was the last place I wanted to go. I was sick, looking grungy, and so was Adele but it was fun to get out of the house. And I LOVE the fried ice cream. Which reminds me, I have a recipe for that and am going to see how that tastes.

Time to get everyone ready for the day.

close call

My uncle was on the bridge just a few minutes before it collapsed on his route from work. Scary stuff. He's lucky. I saw a picture of a woman with a baby barely a month old sobbing as the father had died. It just broke your heart. So far everyone I know in MN has been alright but I can't imagine what all those people must be going through, just waiting, to see if their family is ok.